Games of Divinity
by Shutsumon
Summary: Chihiro may not recall her time at Aburaya but it has left her with a lasting legacy. One that is about to draw her into a battle to save not only herself, her family and an old friend but an entire town.
1. Prologue

Title: Games of Divinity

Fandom: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)

Setting: Not long after the movie for the prologue. 5 years later for the rest of the story.

Rating: PG possibly rising to PG13 later.

Summary: Chihiro may not recall her time at Aburaya but it has left her with a lasting legacy. One that is about to draw her into a battle to save not only herself, her family and an old friend but an entire town.

Comments: Well, well, well... a none digimon fanfic from me. What is the world coming to? And it seems that I'm back to my old habit of swiping fic titles from Roleplaying Game supplements. It only really applies in the loosest possible sense to this fic but at least it does sort of fit and it's heaps better than the working title of "Confluence".

Oh, and for those who may not know the word (like me until I was nosing round the web one day) a kamidana is a small Shinto altar found in many homes in Japan. It literally means something like god or spirit shelf. Something like because kami doesn't exactly mean god or spirit in the western sense though it's usually translated that way... mainly due to lack of a truely equivalent word. I'm defaulting to using spirit to translate it in this fic simply because Shinto is something akin (though again not exactly) to a very sophisticated form of animism and spirit rather than god is the word more generally used to translate the words for divinities used by other animist traditions. I may well swipe ideas from various other animist traditions in my portrayel of the spirits in this fic. No one ever said that just because you were writing about spirits in Japan Shinto had to be right about everything... or if they did I'm ignoring them.

It's also fair to note that I'm using something closer to the traditional Shinto (and indeed animist in general) concept of the Spirit World which is basically that it's the same world as ours, just a part of it that we can't see. Japanese folklore has tales of spirits (mostly kitsune or tengu) twisting space and time to make (for example) a fine mansion in the space under a barn floor or a whole country in a tiny field. In this story Aburaya and it's surrounding lands is something like that. Not so much a whole seperate spirit realm as a kind of, admittedly large, annex of reality that basically acts as a holiday resort where spirits can get away from the mess that is the real world and wound round with spells (like that whole disappearance thing) to keep humans away.

Sorry if there's any typos in this. I have been over it several times but somehow I always miss something and I don't have a beta reader. This is a little short but that's because it's the prologue. The chapters (I have two written in first draft so far) are abot 2500 words apiece not including me blubing at the top.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to HA Seindal for being a good friend and also in "revenge" for his dedicating his excellent Angelic Layer fic to me when I've never seen the anime or the manga. What cuts one way cuts the other.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the movie since Miyazaki does.

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Prologue

To say the fact that there was a month of their lives that they couldn't account for was a sore point with Chihiro and her parents woud probably be an overstatement but they certainly weren't happy about it.

At first their mysterious reappearance had prompted a great deal of attention of course. Even the police, who were clearly sceptical about their claims of amnesia, had been involved. However there was no evidence of any illegal activities on the part of the Ogino family and it had happened in the Summer holiday period so they couldn't even arrest them for failing to send Chihiro to school. In the end and with evident frustration they'd had to close the case even though they were certain something untoward was going on.

After that the fuss began to die down slowly. The month of their disappearance had, after all, been a month of odd events. Some of which were so strange the most likely totally mundane disappearance and subsequent reappearance of one family didn't even start to compare. Even so for months after the odd reporter would pop up and ask difficult questions that they had no answers for and there was always another U.F.O. nut who thought that they'd been abducted by aliens. The same aliens that these weirdos thought had mysteriously cleaned up one of Japan's largest and most polluted rivers overnight during that same month. One such nutcase had accosted Chihiro outside her new school on her first day and she had barely avoided laughing in his face at that theory. She could never quite pin down the elusive memories of what had really happened but she somehow knew that aliens weren't involved in either incident.

Chihiro really wanted to remember what had happened and not just because the gap in her memories was disconcerting. Whatever had happened had changed her. Even she noticed it herself. She felt more confident and energentic and her parents had commented that she seemed less sullen and demanding. That they were happy with but they were less pleased that she had developed an interest in matters spiritual. Her father was agnostic and didn't really care but her mother was a passionate atheist and very dismissive of any religion. When Chihiro had decided to put up a kamidana in her room it had very nearly caused a row. Her mother who had just about tolerated her daughter's regular visits to the local shrine had tried to stop her. Had given her a lecture about how spirits were nothing but the explanation of the stupid for things that science could now explain without need for the supernatural. Chiharo had just shrugged and carried on erecting the shelf. After a moment she'd asked her mother how science explained what had happened to them and then snorted to herself as her mother fled the room. Her parents were scared of things they couldn't explain and didn't like her mentioning what had happened to them. As if ignoring it would make it go away. Chihiro knew that it wouldn't and felt a strange nostalgia for those missing weeks. A yearning for something she couldn't recall. Anyway she'd finally been allowed to keep her altar only when her father had persuaded her mother that it was probably just a phase and she'd grow out of it.

Her investigations into what had happened to them had soon led Chihiro to ask around the small, rural town they'd moved to. After all, she reasoned, someone must have seen something. If they had, however, they were keeping quiet about it. The only thing she discovered was old folktales about the woods being haunted. Tales of vanishing people and strange creatures. All these stories were old however. Nothing like this had happened recently. All the same her new school friends regularly indulged in good natured teasing about her having been kidnapped by the tengu. Chihiro laughed with them at that thought even though an equally amused part of her thought that that sounded about right.

Having found no clues from the people in town Chihiro had taken to prowling the woods where they'd apparently spent a month. Looking for any sort of clue to what had happened. Surely there must be something? If there was she failed to find it but she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched whenever she was there. It was a strange feeling and yet somehow she didn't feel threatened by it.

One place in the woods drew her more than any other and she lost track of the number of times she found herself at the entrance to the strange tunnel that they'd explored that fateful day. And every time she found herself thinking that it looked wrong though she couldn't recall it looking any different that day. Of course given that most of her memory of what had happened was missing what little she had was probably unreliable as well. Perhaps it was better to trust her instincts even when they seemed to make no sense. After all nothing about this situation made any sense.

There was only one way to find out for sure and that was to explore the tunnel again but given what had happened last time it was nearly a year before she managed to screw up the courage to try that. When she finally did it didn't help. The tunnel seemed shorter than she recalled and much less creepy. Even odder it emerged into more woodland when she was certain that she recalled an open space there. She'd sighed because she'd found no answers only new questions and headed home.

It was soon after that that she'd finally discovered what had been watching her. The old stories were true it seemed. These woods were haunted by spirits and for some reason she could sense their presense and when they came out hiding see them. Indeed once that they had overcome their shyness with regards to humans, in her case anyway, it seemed that they were so many of them in the area that every time she went there more spirits came out of the woodwork. Once she got over her initial shock at being able to perceive them she soon found herself with another group of friends. One that her parents would never believe in if she told them. So she just didn't tell them. Over time she became especilly fond of the little kappa that lived in a small pond in the woods, who was as fond of cucumber as the old stories claimed, and of the tanuki family who could shapeshift into human form just like the folktales. The one thing that mights have marred these friendships was that they obviously knew what had happened to her and her family but wouldn't tell her. Even when she pressed the issue they would only say that some things had to be discovered on their own. They did concede that spirits were involved and that something that had happened to her during that time was why she could see them but they would say no more. She might have been angry with their silence but she wasn't. Somehow she understood what they were telling her. One day she'd remember but the path she and her parents had walked here was closed to her now and that that was for the best.

So her life had gone on. A peculiar mixing of the mudane and the supernatural. Her parents got over their worries about her faith and somewhat odd habits because neither her schoolwork or social life suffered as a result. It would probably have continued that way indefinately if one summer evening almost exactly five years after they'd moved there her parents hadn't suddenly announced that they were moving again.

-----

I don't demand reviews but I do accept them gratefully and a good flame can make me laugh... especially if it's one where a person clearly didn't read the comments at the top first.


	2. Chapter One

Title: Games of Divinity

Fandom: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)

Setting: Not long after the movie for the prologue. 5 years later for the rest of the story.

Rating: PG possibly rising to PG13 later.

Summary: Chihiro may not recall her time at Aburaya but it has left her with a lasting legacy. One that is about to draw her into a battle to save not only herself, her family and an old friend but an entire town.

Comments: Woo! This showing not telling business is hard work and I know I'm not always successful but since I aspire to be a better writer I'm trying. Really I am. Still lacking a beta reader so still requesting forgiveness for typos. This is the 4th draft of this yet I'm sure that still there are typos I failed to find.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to HA Seindal for being a good friend and also in "revenge" for his dedicating his excellent Angelic Layer fic to me when I've never seen the anime or the manga. What cuts one way cuts the other.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the movie since Miyazaki does. I suppose that technically I own Kashiwa but since she's only in this chapter that doesn't much matter.

---

Chapter One

"Again?" Chihiro couldn't resist rolling her eyes at her parents sudden announcement. "Why can't we stay in one place for more than a few years? Are the police right? Do we have some deep, dark secret?" Her parents looked both amused and relieved at her dry response. From the almost jumpy way they had told her the news they had probably been afraid that she would sulk like a baby like the last time they moved. But she'd only been ten at the time and had been before 'it' had happened ... whatever 'it' was. At that thought she grinned a little and added. "Do you think we can get where we are going without losing a month this time?" Her parents both laughed uncomfortably when she mentioned the events of their last moving day but all actual traces of amusement had gone and they didn't reply of course. Discussion of 'it' was not actually forbidden. It just never happened. The silence grew until Chihro sighed and continued more seriously. "So where are we moving to this time?"

"To my mother's." Mrs Ogino replied. "She been taken ill and while she denies it she just can't look after herself properly any more. We're just lucky that your father managed to find a new job at such short notice."

"What?" Chihiro uncociously straightened in her chair and her eyes widened in irritation but not because they were moving or even where they were going. "How long has granny been ill?" She snapped. How dare they not tell her? "Why didn't you tell me about it? Did you think that I wouldn't care?"

"Just a month or so." Her father flinched back slightly from her cold tone. "And we did discuss whether to tell you but it didn't seem too serious at first and then when her condition worsened we were worried that the upset would effect your schoolwork. Anyway there wasn't really anything you could do about it from so far away."

"Possibly not." Chihiro bit back her anger and tactfully decided that it would be best not to mention that she could have prayed for her. Moving so abruptly would be stressful enough. She didn't want to provoke a row and it seemed to upset her mother more than anything else religious when she prayed for someone who was sick. "But I could have written to her more often at least. Helped to keep her spirits up." Worry silenced her momentarily as something occured to her. "She isn't too sick to read is she?"

"Oh no, no! She's not that ill." Her mother confirmed and then hesitated before adding somewhat lamely. "We didn't want to worry you." To be fair that was probably true but Chihiro doubted that it was the whole truth. Hor some reason her mother had been trying to keep private communication between her and granny to a minimum ever since the missing month. Even when Granny came to visit they were never alone together long enough to have a good conversation and the knowledge that someone might walk in at any moment had rather inhibited. Chihiro was pretty sure Granny had no idea what had happened to them at that time so she couldn't understand why. However it meant that things really must be pretty desperate if they were actually going to move in with her. It would be impossible not to leave them alone together for at least reasonable periods. Maybe now she'd get some answers about that minor mystery at least. There was one other issue that needed resolving however. Grandmother's illness wasn't the only thing they must have known about before today.

"But you did know we were moving before this, didn't you?" She tried not to scowl but from the feel of her face she wasn't entirely successful. "You said yourself that Dad has a new job and he'd have to work out the notice on his old job. So why did you wait until now to tell me? I mean only two days notice? That's just not fair! I've got to help you with the packing and find time to say goodbye to all my friends? Ugh!"

"Don't worry about it." Her mother didn't explain why they'd waited to tell her but from the faintlly sheepish tone Chihiro realised she embarrassed. Oh, great, they'd been trying to minimise the time she'd have to kick up a fuss. Did they really think she was still that immature? "Most of the furniture is going into storage so there isn't much packing to do." Her mother waved her towards the door. "You go and see all your friends and you can help me pack if you have any time left afterwards. Otherwise it's ok I can handle it."

"Thank you!" Chihiro bowed quickly to her parents before racing out of the house to visit her friends. Both the ones her parents were thinking of and the ones that they wouldn't even believe in. In her opinion it was more important to say goodbye properly to the spirits. After all she could write to her human friends but would have no way to stay in contact with the spirits once they left.

-----

She visited all of her human friends that first evening after the announcement, making sure they had both her postal and email address not to mention her mobile number to stay in touch. This was the 21st Century after all. There was no need for distance to be a bar to a real friendship. She also visited the shops and spent much of her allowance on gifts for her spirit friends. The next day she intended to dedicate to the woods but she wasn't sure how her parents would react when she said she was going to spend some time down there so she waited until breakfast to tell them.

"I'm going down to the woods today. I want to spend some time there before we leave them forever." She said bluntly as she ate her breakfast rice.

"I thought you would." He mother's response was so unruffled that Chihiro didn't respond immediately. She was too busy blinking. Her mother smiled and continued. "A place can be as much of a bond on the heart as any friendship. Leaving can be a big wrench as well. I used to love the woods in the valley below town when I was little. Leaving them when I went to university was worse than leaving friends and family. Her eyes narrowed. "And then they cut them all down not long before they decided the river was in their way. Well except for a small spinney in that ridiculous park the developers were so proud off. As if a well meaning parody of nature can ever be the real thing."

"Uh." Chihiro's eyes glazed over. There were times when her mother's rants about the developers who ruined her home could really get indeterminable and she didn't need that right now.

"Ha!" One amused sound was all that was needed to prove her mother was well aware of that fact. "Go on. Get to your woods. Just be careful and don't stay too long. I want you back by mid-afternoon to help with the packing. There's more stuff I want to take than I thought." She hiked a thumb towards the fridge. "I made you a lunch box."

"Thank you, mom." Chihiro bowed to both her parents and got the lunch out of the fridge. "I'm leaving now."

"Come back safely." Her mother called after her as she slipped out the door and raced down the hill.

---

Her mother's comments about her home town had given Chihiro greater pause for thought than she liked to admit. Would anywhere in her new home be like this? She couldn't help wondering as she made her way from spirit haunt to spirit haunt saying her farewells and dropping off her gifts. They seemed unsurprised by her news but then she had long since learned that they were hard to surprise in their own domain. She was going to miss them all so much. And what now? Would she find herself thrust back into living in the purely mundane world when she knew that there was so much more? She certainly hoped not. She wasn't at all sure that she could bear such a thing. But granny lived in a much more built up area than this though it hadn't always been that way. Chihiro could vaguely remember the holidays of her childhood there and even ten years ago it had been much more rural than now. Her mother was right about the developers ruining the place. What was worrying Chihiro was a very simple question. Did you even find spirits in an urbanized enviroment?

She had meant to keep her concerns to herself. It was not, after all, the spirits problem. But at her last port of call they all came tumbling out. At the time she was sitting on a large rock in a clearing talking to Kashiwa - the Spirit of these Woods. The spirit was strange looking by human standards. Combining, as she did, traits of forest plants such as skin that was covered in a thin layer of bark, 'clothing' made of oak leaves and hair that was actually golden sap, in spite of how it behaved, with those of animals, like her owl like eyes and feline claws, into one mostly humanoid package. Chihiro had been rather scared of the intimidating spirit at first but the wood mother had won her over after a while. Now Kashiwa obviously knew that something beyond the imminent move itself was bothering and soon coaxed it out of her. She listened impassively until the girl finished but then, much to Chihiro's surprise, seemed amused by her fears.

"Ah, child," she began with what passed for a smile on her strange face. "I know where you are going to be living and that is not something I think you need worry about. For one thing there are spirits everywhere. Urban spirits are different from woodland ones and not all spirits of any type are friendly but they are still spirits. For another I think that destiny has you firmly by the hand. You are so firmly entangled with the invisible part of the world that I don't think you could escape it now even if you did want to. There was a point when you returned five years ago when you could have rejected all this and gone back to being just a mundane girl but you chose this path even if you did not know it consciously. Anyway I sense something ahead. A trial as great, if not greater, than any you have ever faced... and in your case that is saying something." The spirit paused thoughtfully. "And even if I couldn't feel it the wind spirits as they blow over my wood carry disturbing tales. If even half of what they tell me is true, though that's unlikely, I'd be happier if you weren't going there but I think that it must be."

"What do they tell you?" Chihiro was baffled by the worry she saw carved on those bark covered features.

"I will not say. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all. Wind spirits gossip a great deal and much less than half of it is true... not including the stories they mangle unintentionally. If this is not true I would worry you a great deal for nothing. And if it is true then telling you would just make it worse. Just be careful and let the road rise up to meet you." After a long moment Kashiwa smiled again. "Of course now you are going to the one place where you are most likely to find what you've really been searching for all this time. Listen to your inner self and I think you'll know that." After another brief silence during which she seemed to consider something Kashiwa added. "Spirits don't make promises unless they mean to keep them."

Chihiro said nothing but considered Kashiwa's words thoughtfully. On the surface they seemed nonsensical. After all they'd been nowhere near Granny's home when it happened. They'd been here in this very wood. Logic said that it was here that here, if anywhere, that the answers to their disappearance lay and yet somehow she felt that was Kashiwa was saying made perfect sense. And why suggest the presence of some danger and then not define it. In spite of her saying she shouldn't have mentioned Chihiro was sure that the Wood Mother never spoke accidentally. She'd wanted Chihiro aware of it but didn't want to say why. Perhaps, Chihiro mused, she should be more anxious about the warning than she was but that last statement had caused a leap in her heart that she couldn't explain. All in all she headed home much happier than when she'd left it for this farewell trip.

-----

The move actually went very smoothly given the short notice. Chihiro's ever methodical mother had carefully colour coded each of the boxes they'd packed by destination. And of course with most of their stuff going into storage there wasn't that much to take with them. The one point of tension arose when Chihiro discovered that her mother has packed her altar in a box marked for storage. She'd protested of course but forunately her mother seemed to be in a concilitory mood for one and just sighed before explaining.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk about your beliefs, Chihiro. We both know that I don't like you choosing to believe in spirits without my rubbing your nose in it. If your anything like me it'd probably make you more stubborn about it and I wish I'd thought of that when you were eleven. Anyway your father and I raised you to think for yourself so I guess that I shouldn't complain when you do just that simply because I don't like what you are thinking." Her mother quite unexpectedly pulled her in to a brief hug. The Ogino's while definately loving were not, in general, a tactile family. "You've grown up so much since we moved here. More than I would have expected in just five years." She snorted briefly. "When I was your age I was even whinier than when I was ten... and I was whinier when I was ten than you at that age." Chihiro wondered if that was even possible as her mother got back to the subject at hand. "The thing with the altar... it's just that your grandmother is already a devout woman. She has a kamidana in the main room. Having two would be just a little redundant wouldn't it?"

Chihiro nodded. She had to concede the point but she still took it out of the box and repacked it in her own stuff. Putting it in storage seemed just a little disrespectful somehow. She'd have to ask her grandmother what she should do with it.

After Chihiro's one brief comment when they'd told her about the move no one mentioned the incident from five years ago again. It was, however, quite obviously playing on her parents' minds because when the time came to set out her mother insisted on driving because her father always got them lost and then firmly announced that there would be no detours no matter what. Of course she'd done this every time they'd gone on a longish journey since 'it' happened but somehow this seemed different. There was a palpable tension in the car as they set out. Apparently they were really nervous about this. It showed most especially in how rigourous her mother was in sticking to the route and not taking any wrong turns. Indeed she kept stopping to look at the map even though she should have been able to drive the route to her home town without any difficulty.

It was only because of these regular stops that Chihiro noticed something a little odd. It was about halfway through the journey and they'd paused at a rest stop to catch something to eat. As they ate the rice balls they'd bought Chihiro noticed a pale yellow car pull in and park near them. Through it's tinted windscreen she could just make out that the driver was a middle aged man. She wouldn't have thought much of it if it weren't for the fact that she was sure she'd seen the same car pass them a couple of times during map reading stops.

She commented on this to her parents but they said that it was probably just the same type of car rather than the same car. Or that possibly the driver was a sales representative who kept passing them because he was turning off to see clients and therefore kept ending up back behind them. It sounded plausible enough so Chihiro let it pass. After all who would want to follow them?

When they reached their new home town Chihiro was shocked. It had been several years since she has been here because after they had moved five years ago Granny had always come to them rather than the other way around even though they were living closer to here than when they were in Tokyo. Probably because her parents now avoided unneccessary journeys of any length. As a result Chihiro was unprepared for just how far down hill the place had gone. As they drove through the new area that was named for the river that had once flowed there she couldn't help noticing how dilapidated the buildings looked. It was hard to believe that they were less than ten years old. Not only that but the standing buildings were interspersed with piles of rubble where some buildings had been demolished - or possibly had fallen down. Come to think of it hadn't a small apartment block collapsed round here about a year ago? She seemed to recall seeing it on the news but hadn't realised it was a general trend. Several of the other buildings looked like they were about to collapse and many of the businesses were boarded up. As for any new construction. Well there was no sign of that. Something had obviously gone very wrong.

"What's happening here?" She mused out loud. Her mother glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

"The worst possible combination of bad luck and human ineptitude." Her mother said in a tone of disgust. "The area was already suffering economically because of the general down turn before things started falling down." She paused the car and scowled at a particularly large pile of rubble. "I'm only surprised that it took as long as it did for that to happen. There are some soil types you don't build on without specialist foundations and this is one. The developers claim they used the right ones but they must have cut corners. One moderate earthquake and the entire Kohaku district will be gone. I just can't believe that no one's died in this death trap yet. I hope the idiots have to pay a fortune in compensation though there's small chance of that."

"Oh." Chihiro knew her mother was simplifying her explanation but she thought she caught the gist of it. "So they built somewhere they shouldn't and now the people who live there are paying for it?"

"Exactly." Her mother pointed up a hill. "See the old part of town where mother lives is fine."

Chihiro looked up towards the hill in question and saw that the buildings up there did indeed look a lot more stable though it seemed that businesses were failing there as well. "I see." She said as she looked back round the area they were in then pointed to some trees planted on a small patch of grass by one of the apartment blocks that was still just about standing with the help of some major scaffolding. "Why are those trees dying?"

"Eh?" He mother's gaze followed her finger to the somehow faded trees that were almost leafless in spite of it being summer. "I have no idea... perhaps some idiot put weedkiller too close to them. Round here it wouldn't surprise me."

She started the car again and as they turned to drive up to the old town and granny's Chihiro saw something else that disturbed her. The state of the local shrine. It was obviously being neglected. As they drove towards it she could see that the timbers of the entrance arch were beginning to rot slightly and that the avenue of trees leading up to the shrine itself was somewhat overgrown. All in all it looked rather shabby and unkempt like no one cared for it anymore.

"Is that shrine abandoned."

"Pretty close but not officially." Her mother replied. "A few people including your grandmother still pray there." Chihiro was surprised to hear a hint of sadness in her mother's tone instead of the usual dismissiveness of all things religious. "But most even among the devout most people round here don't care to pray to the spirit of a lost river. Funny that they'll pray to the spirit of a lost wood instead. Maybe it's because they can still see some of the trees. I don't know." She shook her head and stopped the car again. This time outside the shrine. "But it's a crying shame. This was by far the oldest shrine in the whole town and had by far the prettiest grounds. It shouldn't be in such a state."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd care about the state of a shrine." For some reason the thought of the local river spirit being ignored had caused a sudden burst of anger in her heart and the comment came out more snappy than she meant it to. "I'm sorry." She apologised before her mother could respond. "That came out all wrong."

"That's okay. I got the point." Her mother seemed more amused than angry as she explained in a somewhat pensive tone. "Just because I don't like religion doesn't mean I don't know how important it has been in shaping our past and present and through them our future." She looked at the shrine and sighed. "All belief or lack of it aside this place is part of our heritage and should be preserved so people can see how we became who we are. Anyway your father and I got married there." She started the car and prepared to drive off. "Well our families both insisted." She added with a laugh before Chihiro could comment on them having had a religious ceremony.

"Well I'm going to pray there and work on tidying it up as well if the priest will let me." Chihiro glanced back towards the shrine as they drove off and found herself frowning. There was a boy maybe a couple of years older than her watching them from beneath the arch and she would have sworn any oath asked of her that he hadn't been there a moment earlier. Not only that but he looked very familiar to her even though she couldn't recall having ever seen him before. The sense that she should recognise him was so strong that somehow she couldn't seem to take her eyes off him , staring at him through the rear window of the car until they turned another corner into the street where her grandmother lived and the shrine disappeared from view.

-----

A/N: Wow! That came out at over 3000 words... I wasn't expecting that.


	3. Chapter Two

Title: Games of Divinity

Fandom: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)

Setting: Not long after the movie for the prologue. 5 years later for the rest of the story.

Rating: PG possibly rising to PG13 later.

Summary: Chihiro may not recall her time at Aburaya but it has left her with a lasting legacy. One that is about to draw her into a battle to save not only herself, her family and an old friend but an entire town.

Comments: Thanks to Wyldcat for pointing out I accidentally doubled up the last sentence on the previous chapter. Working out what they did to the Kohaku River has proved a headache. When you drain a river you have to do something with the water but in spite of devouring several sites about River Engineering whole I'm still not any the wiser on the matter. So I'm making it up out a pile of whole cloth combined with the real fates of several of lost rivers that I met in researches. Most especially the River Westbourne in London.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to HA Seindal for being a good friend and also in "revenge" for his dedicating his excellent Angelic Layer fic to me when I've never seen the anime or the manga. What cuts one way cuts the other.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the movie since Miyazaki does.

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Chapter Two

Grandmother lived alone in a traditional style house not far from the shrine and had done ever since Chihiro's parents married. Grandfather had died when her mother was younger than she was now. She had always loved visiting grandmother's house because it was so spacious compared to the places that she and her parents had lived. Even the house they were moving from now seemed small by comparison.

When they drew up outside the house grandmother was waiting for them and was leaning on a stick that she had never had to use before. Chihiro couldn't help but notice how tired she looked. She'd never looked so small or frail before and she seemed older some how. It was as if she was carrying more than her sixty three years. She was trying to hide it of course but was failing miserably. Behind the fake smile Granny was giving her Chihiro could see the misery in her eyes. She was appalled at the change in her only surviving grandparent in the scant few months since she'd last seen her. It was almost as if something was sucking the life out of her... at least that was how it seemed to Chihiro got though she couldn't explain why. Her thoughts were interrupted as grandmother spoke with forced cheerfulness.

"Oh, good! You made it without getting lost for a month this time I see." She ignored the stony silence that followed that comment and ushered them inside. "Well come in. We'll have some tea before the van arrives. You must be tired after your trip." They entered the living room and Chihiro headed straight to her grandmother's altar to pay her respects. Grandmother's smile while still strained at the edges became less forced as she watched. She shot a somewhat sly glance at Chihiro's mother. "I see that she still doesn't take after you in spite of your best efforts, Yuko." She headed slowly towards the kitchen to prepare the tea she had mentioned but her daughter stopped her.

"No, mother, I'll do it." She said firmly. "You look tired and that's why we're here. So you can rest and get better." With that she bustled off towards the kitchen as Chihiro finished her prayers and headed for one of the seats. As she sat down she thought that she saw something scurrying along in the shadows out of the corner of her eye but by the time she reacted and turned to look it had vanished. She frowned briefly and settled back into her chair uncertain if what she had seen was a spirit, a trick of the light or merely a figment of her imagination.

"Chihiro? Is something wrong?" Her grandmother had obviously noticed the puzzlement that had flitted across her face.

"No... I just thought that I saw something moving but there's nothing there. A trick of the light maybe."

"May be." Her grandmother agreed. "Or maybe it was ..." Her voice took on a hammed up spooky tone. "The Ghost!"

"What ghost?" Chihiro stared at her. "Since when is this place haunted? You told me plenty of spooky tales about the area when I was little but I don't recall any about the house itself and I'm sure I would."

"No, there were none. It only arrived about a year ago, not long before I first fell ill in fact, and it isn't just this house. It haunts the entire district." All tracesof amusement had disappeared from her grandmother's voice. "It's a dreadful thing. It smashes things, tosses furniture around and unlocks doors. That sort of thing... and that's on a good day. Last week it threw the Takada's second daughter across the room. She showed me the bruises."

"You mean a poltergeist?" Chihiro asked. Her grandmother nodded. "Hasn't anyone tried appeasing it?"

"Of course we have but it doesn't seem to be ammenable to the usual offerings and there's no one left with the old gifts who could find out what it wants or get rid of it if it's totally unreasonable. We did hire a woman who claimed to be an itako but she turned out to be a fraud. It defenestrated her... served her right but I'm glad it was a ground floor window. The idiot wouldn't have deserved to die... anyway after that she dumped our money and limped off muttering about ghosts not being supposed to be real.

"Well at least it seems to have a sense of humour." Chihiro offered as she tried not to laugh at the fraudulent mediums comeuppance.

"Not the ghost again, mother." Chihiro's mother returned with a tray with four oolong teas on it. "I mean spirits are one thing but a ghost?" She was obviously trying not to laugh as she looked at Chihiro. "The police say that the con artist slipped, fell out of the window and panicked. They're also pretty sure that this place was just trashed by vandals after you grandmother left the door unlocked by mistake."

"I may not be as well as I was, Yuko, but I am not senile. I know I locked the damned door."

"No one is suggesting you are senile, mother, forgetting something like that is easily done when you are tired."

"Maybe one person could but half a dozen? On the same night? Several times in the course of a few months?" Granny winked at Chihiro as she spoke. "Just a little coincidental don't you think?"

"Well..." Chihiro's mother frowned and hesitated. "That is a little odd... but ghosts? No... It has to be malicious humans doing it rather than some ephemeral entity doing it. Maybe they are just skilled at picking locks."

"Maybe." Grandmother was obviously not convinced by this idea. "But I think you're wrong." She looked at Chihiro. "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Chihiro replied truthfully. "I'll have to wait until something happens to form an opinion."

"That's reasonable. Why can't you be that reasonable, Yuko?"

"Hmph!" Mother folded her arms and changed the subject. "Why isn't there any food in the house? I just checked all the cupboards and there's nothing..."

"Ah, yes, well... I've been too tired to cook or shop recently." Grandmother looked embarrassed to admit this. "So since it was just me I've been ordering out."

"I see." Mother replied neutrally as she sipped her tea before looking at her Dad. "Looks like we'll have to do a supply run after our drink." She grabbed a pad and ben from her bag and began to jot down a shopping list. "Chihiro, you wait here for the van and make sure they put everything in the right place."

----

A little later, after her parents had left to go shopping, Chihiro sat by her grandmother and passed her silks as she embroidered a picture.

"So," Grandmother asked softly without looking up from her needlework. "Did you ever find out what happened to you that time?"

Chihiro didn't even have to ask which time, of course, and shook her head. "No... I still have no idea. I wish I did."

"I see." This time Granny did look up from her stitching. "I thought that may be you had found out and were keeping quiet for fear that no one would believe you?" The intonation made it a question."Whatever did happen to you effected you profoundly, Chihiro, you were like a different girl afterwards."

"I know. It's weird and I've dedicated a good chunk of my spare time in the last five years trying to find out what did happen with precious little success." She pulled her feet up under her. "And it's hard because mother and father won't even talk about it... like that will make it go away."

"Hmmm, yes... they don't like things they can't explain." Granny smiled wryly. "But there's something else, isn't there? I've had the feeling for a couple of years now that there is something that you aren't telling.

"Well..." Chihiro hesitated. "Maybe... but no one would believe me and it's not directly related." She was seriously considering confiding in Granny but she still wasn't sure how she'd react. A trip to the psychiatrist was definately not on her list of things to do. Having said that there was a very good chance that granny would believe her.

"Try me." Granny said reassuringly but Chihiro continued to hesitate. "Okay, perhaps if I ask something more specific...." Granny put down her needlework and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "My grandmother, your great great grandmother, could see spirits. I always wished that I could see them as well but the gift passed me by ... just like it did my mother and my daught. I had thought that it had bypassed you as well. That maybe it had been lost to our family. But now I wonder... has it?"

"Eh?" Chihiro could only stare at her stunned. She hadn't realised that her grandmother actually suspected about her secret.

"I know for a fact that you used to see spirits as a toddler but that meant nothing. All toddlers do. Most children's imaginary friends aren't as imaginary as people... well... imagine. But most children not only lose the ability as they grow up they even lose the memories of it. What about you?"

"I honestly don't recall seeing spirits when I was little." Chihiro told her. "But a while after 'it' happened I realised I could see them... and they have implied that it's connected." She paused and then added. "I'm not going crazy, granny, really I'm not."

"I know you aren't, Chihiro. I've suspected for quite some time. Sometimes you get this distant look like I used to see on my grandmother's face when I was a child and at other times tour eyes move as if you're following something that no one else can see. Anyway it certainly explains where that sudden burst of piety came from."

"No, not really. I didn't find out that I could see them until after that. They seem a little shy of humans."

"With all the harm people do to them can you blame them?" She reached out and took her grandaughter's hand. "But if they said that what happened caused this ability to manifest then I'm fairly sure that you knew before you knew if you catch my drift. Nothing that happens is ever forgotten... not even the things you can't remember."

"Eh?" Chihiro said again. Oh wonderful, she sounded really intelligent today with all these Eh's. "Someone has said something like that to me before.... but I don't remember who or when..." She explained. "Which is sort of ironic I guess." She paused and looked round as she thought she saw the scurrying thing again but once again it evaded her. "Is there really a poltergeist?"

"Well there's something and poltergeist is as good a name as any. Whatever it is it's actively malevolent rather than mischeivious. It's quite possible that it's a demon of some sort." She looked pensive. "Quite a few people round here think that the river's spirit might be responsible... and goodness knows he has enough reason to be vengeful."

"No!" The force of Chihiro's exclaimation made her grandmother jump. "No!" She shook her head violently. "He wouldn't do that!"

"You sound so sure." Her grandmother said.

"I..." Chihiro hesistated as she tried to figure out why she was so sure. "I... I don't know why I'm sure but I am sure. Do you think he's responsible?"

"I don't know... it seems like a reasonable enough idea. He certainly wouldn't be the first spirit to be corrupted by human carelessness." She bowed her head. "It would serve us right. We couldn't save the river and the shrine is almost abandoned. Most people think that he's gone."

"I'm sure he isn't... but well. I can see why people would think that with the river being gone... after all a spirit isn't seperate in any meaningful sense from what it represents even though it can look that way. So..."

"That's their rationale as well but you can't just turn a river off like a tap. You have to do something with all the water that would have fed the river. I don't really understand it but it has something to do with an underground reservoir and a pipe." He grandmother's eyes glazed over as she thought about it. "Your mother tried to explain it to me once when it was in the planning stages. She knows a lot about rivers from her time at University before you were born and argued very loudly against the developers. Delayed them for over a year but in the end the courts decided in their favour. I suspect money was involved in that somewhere."

"Hmmm... well I'm sure he's not gone." Chihiro would have to ask her mother about what was done to the river and just hope she could understand the explanation. Sometimes when her mother started discussing ecology Chihiro was convinvced that she wasn't speaking Japanese at all but some obscure foreign tongue that only she understood. "And I don't believe that he's a demon... and if you do why do you still pray at his shrine?"

"Because I hope you are right. Because Even if you aren't demons can often be placated or appeased. Because the dividing line between spirit and demon is not a straightforward one. Because I've prayed at that shrine since I moved here as a child and I'm too old and set in my ways to change now."

"Oh ... Do you think they'll let me help tidy and maintain the shrine?" chihiro asked. "I'd like to. I know I can't do much about the rotten woodwork but I can clean and I can garden. Even tidy up the trees and similar."

"Well the shrine priest is old and tired like me. He's pretty much given up on trying to revive the shrine but he certainly won't stop you. I'll take you over and introduce you tomorrow after you tour the school you'll be attending after the summer. Maybe if someone makes a visible effort it'll spur other people on."

"We we can hope." Was Chihiro's last comment as the moving van finally arrived bring the conversation to an end.

As she consulted her mother's list and instructed the removal men on where to put things she noticed a familiar yellow car drive slowly past the house.

-----

"Ugh, I'm tired." Chihiro's mother yawned that evening not long after grandmother had gone to bed. It was still quite early, long before even Chihiro would usually be in bed but both her parents looked exhausted and were yawning excessively. "This move has taken more out of me than I realised."

"Me too." her father agreed. "I think an early night is in order." That surprised Chihiro because she knew that he had been planning to watch the soccer highlights on TV. His favourite team had had a big match that day. He would have to be really tired to be willing to miss it. It was odd though. She could understand why her mother was tired, she'd been driving for a good chunk of the day after all, but why was her father so tired? She'd worked as hard as him carrying stuff to and from the van and still wasn't especially tired.

All the same she didn't protest them retiring to their room. She just sat crosslegged on the futon in her room and carried on with the book she was reading, a single volume translation of a pair of English children's novels called "The Alderley Tales". She was distracted from her reading by a problem with, of all things, the sparkly purple hair tie she'd obtained at some point during that missing month. She'd never mentioned its mysterious appearance to anyone because for some reason she felt a fond attachment to it and didn't want it to end up in a box of police evidence somewhere. Sometimes, however, it seemed to have a mind of its own and this was one of those times. When she took it out of her hair and tried to put it down it stuck to her fingers like certain kinds of fabric if they had a lot of static in them. She sighed and tried to peel it off but it just stuck to her other hand instead. After several more attempts she got exasperated and firmly wrapped it round the handle of her hair brush. That did not stick to her fingers when she put it down but she still got the feeling that the hair tie was trying to stay with her. How strange. After a moment she dismissed it from her mind, in spite of an odd anxious feeling in her stomach, and carried on reading. However much sooner than she expected she began to feel sleepy and dozed off, still fully dressed and without even getting up to turn the lights out.

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A/N: The plot should actually start picking up speed in the next chapter (though things are already moving) when Chihiro and Haku have their first conversation since they parted at the end of the movie. Though it definately will not be anything you'll be expecting. As always reviews are not demanded. I won't stop writing if you don't review. However I am a self-absorbed attention whore so any and all reviews (yes even flames - I never said I was a whore just for good attention) will be gratefully received.


	4. Chapter Three

Title: Games of Divinity

Fandom: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)

Setting: Not long after the movie for the prologue. 5 years later for the rest of the story.

Rating: PG possibly rising to PG13 later.

Summary: Chihiro may not recall her time at Aburaya but it has left her with a lasting legacy. One that is about to draw her into a battle to save not only herself, her family and an old friend but an entire town.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to HA Seindal for being a good friend and also in "revenge" for his dedicating his excellent Angelic Layer fic to me when I've never seen the anime or the manga. What cuts one way cuts the other.

Comments: I forgot to say in my notes on the last chapter that I don't know if the books Chihiro was reading - "The Alderley Tales" by Alan Garner ("The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" and "The Moon of Gomrath") - have been translated into in Japanese but if they haven't they should have been (and in this story they have been). Of course I might be biased since Alderley isn't that far from where I live (I'm in North Staffordshire and Alderley is in Cheshire). Anyway while technically kids books they are great stories and come heartily recommended by me. This isn't my greatest chapter. It does stuff that needed doing and moves the story on but that's all it does. And I think the first couple of paragraphs might sound a bit pretentious. Sorry. Still hopefully the story should really start moving soon. Notes to reviewers at the bottom of this Chapter. EDIT finally found a free wordprocessor with a spellcheck and nixed all the typos it could spot.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the movie since Miyazaki does.

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Chapter Three

Chihiro had always held the keys to her own memories. She just didn't know it, and even if she had known it would have been virtually impossible for her to use them without help. The magic that had locked them away from her was too subtle and pervasive to be easily circumvented. The truth, however, was as simple and complex as this. Only in her waking hours did the shroud of forgetfulness prevail. When she slept her memories crept into her dreams. Not that all her dreams were plain memory, of course. Like every human she dreamt of her future hopes and fears and of her mundane life as well. It was just that in response to her major preoccupation her unconscious mind naturally whispered to her of what she had forgotten. In theory all she would have had to do to know the truth was recall her dreams. Unfortunately, as has been said, it was not that simple. For one thing her dreams fled from her as soon as she awoke in the plain light of day and left her with a mere handful of dry fragments. For another she didn't even realise that those fragments which she did manage to hold on to were in any way real. The magics that protected Aburaya from discovery and the fickleness of the human mind both conspired against her.

At least that was how it has been before now. Today, it seemed, something. Last night her unconscious hadn't been whispering to her it had been hammering on the doors of her consciousness and howling a warning. It shouldn't have been enough to overcome, even slightly, the hole in her memories but somehow it was. Even so her dreams still fled from her like morning frost in the first rays of the sun when she woke. Indeed they slipped through her grasp as if they were sand. It was just that the fragments that remained left her with an odd feeling of reality. Somehow she knew that this was a memory.

"Ugh!" She could feel the gritty fog that seemed to pervade her mind trying to steal that sense of reality from her. Chihiro kept her eyes shut as she fought it and tried to recapture the events of her dream. All she could recall of it, however, was the image of looking down at her purple hair tie in her cupped hands and listening as someone female told her to use it to tie back her hair and that it would protect her. That, however, she did manage to hold onto by sheer force of will. "Not much to go on." She muttered to herself as she finally opened her eyes. She shut them again immediately. The light hanging above her bed was just too bright and immediately kindled a fullblown headache behind her eyes. "Bleh!" Chihiro really hated mornings like these. And how had she managed to fall asleep with the light still on like that anyway? She'd never done that before. With a brief groan she crawled across the room, keeping her eyes mostly closed, and turned off the light. What little light still filtered into the room from outside was dim enough that she could finally bear to open her eyes fully. With a sigh of relief she did just that even though all she really wanted to do was collapse back on her futon and sleep some more. Preferably for several days.

Which was impossible of course, so she forced herself to her feet with a sigh, staggered to the window and gingerly peered out. She had to squint against the bright sunshine that shone down through the sparse, faded leaves of a nearby tree at an angle that suggested that it must be late morning already. But that meant that she must have slept for over ten hours! So why was she still tired?

Shaking her head to try and clear it she picked up her watch and looked at it. Her eyes widened as she realised that it was even later than she'd thought. There was only an hour until she was supposed to be at the school for her tour. That shock caused a brief surge of adrenalin which was enough to get her into the bathroom to shower, put her hair up and get dressed as quickly as she could before going into the main room to see if her parents were up yet. They were, but they still looked tired. However Granny wasn't up yet.

"Oh! Good Morning, Chihiro!" Ogino Yuko managed a wan but genuine smile for her daughter. "I rang the school and told them that we're running half an hour late. We all overslept and no one is rushing out without breakfast on my watch. I'm afraid it's only cereal though. I didn't have time to cook the rice for a proper breakfast. I'm sorry."

"Cereal's fine, mom." Chihiro picked up the packet and poured some into her bowl. It was true that she was used to a more traditional Japanese breakfast but cereal was a nice change occasionally. She just hoped that it did become a habit because a bowl of cereal just wasn't as filling.

As she ate she decided that the shower must have helped somewhat because she was starting to feel less groggy... or it could be the food of course. At least she hoped it was something mundane like that. Whatever the cause she felt much better after breakfast ... still somewhat sleepy but much better. She just wished she could say the same for her parents but they both still looked really flat and listless. "You both look tired." she commented. "Did you have a bad night?"

"No," A barely perceptible frown graced her mother's features. "Actually we both slept like logs. Neither of us woke up once. I have no idea why we are both still so tired. May be we slept too well."

"That must be it." Chihiro nodded. "I'm a little tired too." She just wished that she could believe it but she couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling growing in her stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. Perhaps it was in subconscious response to that feeling that she found herself absently lifting her hand to touch the hair tie where it was securing her ponytail. Somehow she wasn't surprised to find that it was humming softly beneath her fingers. It was definitely doing something then. Was that why she was gradually waking up while her parents still seemed drained? Somehow it seemed likely given the events of the previous evening followed by that dream. It must have been trying to protect her from something. Since she had no idea what it was she decided to let the hair tie have it's way from now on. She had also better talk about this to granny as well. Perhaps her illness was from the same source?

As she headed out the door with her mother another thought occurred to her. Kashiwa had warned her that something lay ahead of her. It looked like she was right but damn she wished the Wood Mother had been more specific.

----

Her mother was very unhappy that they'd moved the school since she was a child. Given that the school was now right in the heart of the new district where the structural problems seemed worst Chihiro was not surprised in the least. Still it was the only school for her age group in the town so there wasn't have much choice. They could easily have walked the distance to the school but caught the bus instead. Chihiro's mother just didn't feel up to walking and was definitely in no fit state to drive.

"Mr Nagona!" Chihro's mother seemed a little flustered to see him. "You're still teaching?" She finally remembered to bow politely to the distinguished looking, grey haired man. "What a nice surprise! I heard that you had retired." She turned to her daughter. "Chihiro this is Mr Nagona. He taught me geography when I was I was at school. He's an absolutely wonderful teacher!"

"Yuko, you're making me blush!" He protested as a warm grin crinkled his features even more than they already were. He turned to Chihiro. "Actually, I'm a very average teacher." His eyes twinkled as he nodded to her. Chihiro bowed in response and introduced herself. He smiled again and turned his attention back to her mother. "You didn't have to come today, you know. You could have waited a few days for the tour." He told her as he ushered them towards the main entrance. "It isn't even term time and moving is such a stress. What's the rush?"

"Not exactly a rush." her mother replied. " I just want to be sure that any building that my daughter is going to be spending a great deal of time in is going to stay standing." She was looking critically at the fine cracks in the facade and the crumbling mortar. Not to mention the scaffolding that in places looked to Chihiro anyway, like it might be the only thing holding the building up. Apparently her mother agreed. "What I'm seeing doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence." She clicked her tongue against her teeth disapprovingly. "Do they really expect me to send my daughter to a school that looks like a fair size sneeze would knock it down?"

"Since it's the only school in town I guess they think they have a captive audience." He replied. "They've had surveyors check it out and they say it's safe." That would probably have been more reassuring if he didn't sound so dubious. "But I agree - it doesn't look or feel very safe does it?" He led them inside and Chihiro immediately wrinkled her nose and sneezed violently.

"Ug, what is that smell?" Her mother asked before also sneezing at the strange odour that seemed to pervade the air.

"Damp." He replied with a faint moue of distaste. "I'm not supposed to mention this but the basement is ... well... slightly flooded where the diversion pipe runs under the school. We've had to move the fuse box up here and turn off all the electric down there because it's ankle deep in spite of the best pumps money could buy. The amount that leaks it's a miracle any water reaches the sea."

"The diversion pipe leaks?" Her mother asked in a tone so level Chihiro knew it was artificial even without seeing the incredulous expression on her face. "I can almost understand how they made a mistake with the foundation types but a leaking diversion pipe? No matter how slipshod they were that just shouldn't happen."

"Yes, I know. It's a big mystery. No one can find the leak and yet the basement is flooded with what is definitely river water. Most of the other buildings along the route have the same problem. Sometimes I wonder if it's leaking in protest at the way it's been treated."

Chihiro's mother snorted at that idea. "Hmmm... the pipe must have been flawed somehow and they are covering it up." She seemed to consider something then because there was a brief silence. "I just hope they didn't cut corners on the reservoir. The last thing we need is the dam giving." She shuddered visibly.

"That's one thing we don't have to worry about, Yuko. The Government has had Engineers and Inspectors all over it." Mr Nagona said in a soothing tone. "I've even seen the scans myself. It's not going to collapse and drop a wall of water on us. You wouldn't see my hide for dust if I felt that was even a slight possibility."

"That, at least, is reassuring." Her mother's laugh was genuine and yet still had a brittle edge to it.

"Would you like to see the basement?" He asked. "Almost everyone who knows about our flood problem seems to want to. It's like some sort of clandestine tourist attraction."

"It sounds interesting." Chihiro said before her mother could reply. Ogino Yuko could be a bit fastidious at times and Chihiro thought the idea of going into the basement would not appeal to her. And she was indeed looking a bit squeamish. All the same...

"Actually, yes, I do want to see it." She said after a moment. "All that water might undermine the building even more."

"And it'll be a nice diversion before the tour." Mr Nagona winked at Chihiro before getting a large torch from one of the cupboards and leading them towards the cellar door. "After all one school is much like another isn't it?" He opened the door. "You'll want to take off your shoes and socks though. I'm not kidding about it being ankle deep." They did as he suggested and he led them down the dark stairs into the basement.

"Ew!" Her mother said as Chihiro gagged slightly. The stench was even worse down here.

"Sorry." He said over his shoulder. "I should have warned you that it was worse down her." They emerged into the basement and Chihiro tensed slightly against the expected chill of the water. She was surprised to find that it wasn't all that cold. In fact it actually felt quite pleasant as it swirled around her ankles. There was a slight splash followed by a startled yelp as her mother.

"Cold!" She gasped. "You could have warned me that it was so cold."

"It's river water, Yuko." Mr Nagona sounded amused. "You didn't think it would be warm did you?"

"It's not as cold as I thought it would be." Chihiro told them.

"Eh?" The mixture of surprise and disbelief came from both adults.

"You must have naturally insulated feet." Mr Nagona added as Chihiro's mother started examining the walls by tapping them lightly.

"So the water is seeping up through the floor?" she asked. Mr Nagona made and affirmative noise. "Well the walls seem solid by some miracle but this is a hell of a lot of seepage. When the flooding start?"

"About a year ago." He replied.

"A lot of things seem to have started about a year ago." Chihiro noted in a neutral tone. She'd have to ask Granny if anything of note had happened around then, she decided, but then Mr Nagona spoke up.

"Actually we think it was the earth tremor last year did it. It happened just before things started falling down and the flooding started. It wasn't a big one. Only made the local news. That's why they did all those checks at the reservoir."

"Of course!" her mother agreed. "That could have been the the straw that broke the camels back with the bad construction round here. Could have cracked the the pipe as well. Still they should have been built to withstand big quakes let alone tremors. There are regulations."

"Was the tremor when the first building collapsed?" Chihiro asked.

"No," he replied, "That was a few weeks later. Though the general consensus is that it was the tremor that weakened it enough for it to collapse." He headed back to the stairs. "Anyway, we'd better get on with the tour."

"Leave your shoes and socks off when we get back upstairs, Chihiro." Her mother told her. "There's no towels and your feet need to dry. You don't want trench foot."

Chihiro wasn't sure what that was but it certainly didn't sound pleasant, so she decided to do as her mother suggested. As she followed them out of the basement she paused at the base of the stairs she paused momentarily as the water seemed to tug gently at her feet and ankles as if it was trying to get her attention.

"Eh?" She said softly and looked back. There was no one there that she could see and yet she could sense a presence that felt very familiar somehow. Some instinct made her look down at the water and whispered. "What?"

"Come on, Chihiro!" Her mother had paused halfway up the stairs and looked back. "You don't want to spend all day in a smelly basement do you?"

"Coming!" She called and put her right foot on to the first stair. Even as she did a voice startled her by speaking softly by her ear.

"I'm not the one responsible for all the trouble, Chihiro, please believe me."

"Yargh!" Even with the slight pulling on her feet she hadn't really been expecting an answer to her query. She nearly fell backwards and would have landed on her bottom in the water if she hadn't managed to grab the handrail. She stood there, holding onto it for dear life while she recovered her breath and wondered why she knew that voice.

"Are you alright?" Her mother called from above.

"I'm okay!" She called back. "I just slipped." She lied because she knew that saying that she thought that the river spirit has just spoken to her would not go down well.

"Be more careful." Her mother sounded irritated. "You shouldn't rush when your feet are wet."

"I will be." Chihiro started up the stairs and then paused and looked back. In the faint light from the doorway at the top she could just make out the surface of the water. "I believe you." she whispered quietly enough that the adults wouldn't hear and saw the waters stir quietly in a non-existent breeze. Satisfied he had heard her she she turned and carried on up the stairs towards daylight and a boring school tour.

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Notes to my Reviewers:

Velf: Thank you. I'm glad you like it. I see we came to the same fairly logical conclusion about what happened to the river. I hope you feel better soon.

Wyldcat: All good things in their own time. ie You'll find that out in a chapter or two. And is the poltergeist Haku? Well a lot of people think so but he seems to be claiming his innocence.

LadyRainStarDragon: It's not exactly alive but yes it is kind of spooky isn't it. As to the weirdness with us sharing the same ideas. I bet we're both looking at the same websites to get inspired.

big book worm: it's nice of you to say so! And some of the double sentences are glitches but some are just lousy editing on my part. (or just plain getting confused and typing a sentence twice)

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A/N: holds a begging bowl and looks at you with big, soulful eyes The review whore would like feeding, please... if it's not too much trouble... don't put yourself out for me....


	5. Chapter Four

Title: Games of Divinity

Fandom: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)

Setting: Not long after the movie for the prologue. 5 years later for the rest of the story.

Rating: PG possibly rising to PG13 later.

Summary: Chihiro may not recall her time at Aburaya but it has left her with a lasting legacy. One that is about to draw her into a battle to save not only herself, her family and an old friend but an entire town.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to HA Seindal for being a good friend and also in "revenge" for his dedicating his excellent Angelic Layer fic to me when I've never seen the anime or the manga. What cuts one way cuts the other.

Comments: Long Chapter. Sorry it's a bit late. It's so long it took a while to write and it's been severely re-drafted as well. By the time you see this on it'll be in it's 4th draft! Notes to reviewers in a/n at bottom of page. HAPPY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE! I'll try and post at least one more chapter before New Year!

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the movie since Miyazaki does.

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Chapter Four

"You are not going to school in that dump!" Anger seemed to have given Yuko the energy to overcome her tiredness. "I don't care how good the teachers are!" They were walking towards home having not long left the school. "I'll ring round and find you a space at a school in one of the nearby towns. Even if we have to pay."

"You seem more awake." Chihiro noted. She didn't tell her mother that she actually wanted to go to that school but she did. True the building was a mess and the smell was indescribably bad but she felt drawn to the cellar. She wanted to go back there again.

"I do feel better. It was the cold water and that stench that woke me up, I think." Yuko looked at her. "I'm sure that it's not a healthy environment for children." She glowered back towards the school gates. "I don't know how anyone can send their children there." She seemed to consider this for a moment and then added. "I think I'll call the health inspectors as well." They walked on in silence for a few moments.

"Mom?" Chihiro guessed that this would be as good a time as any to ask about the river.

"Hmm?" Yuko was obviously startled out of a reverie by her daughter's voice.

"What exactly did they do to the river? I thought it was gone but it can't be if the school is flooded. You and Mr Nagona mentioned a pipe?"

Yuko gave her daughter an appraising look. "River Engineering is a complicated subject, Chihiro, and not my speciality at all. I know enough to explain it but I've seen the way you glaze over when I get technical. Want to risk it?"

Chihiro sighed. "Can't you simplify it?"

"Hmm.... well I can try." She considered for a moment. "Rivers don't just appear fully formed out of nowhere." She said finally. "They have sources. In the case of the Kohaku river there are several natural springs, the rainwater run off from the surrounding land and meltwater from the mountains. Now water flows downhill, of course, and tends to take the path of least resistance. Because of this a lot of water tends to end up in roughly the same place and heading in the same direction."

"A river!" Chihiro interjected to show that she had understood the explanation so far. Her mother nodded.

"Exactly! Anyway you can't just drain a river because you still have the springs, rain and snow putting water back into the system. This all flows back into the old valley and pretty soon you'll have a river again. It's very hard to stop water flowing downhill."

"Because of gravity?" Chihiro asked. They'd sort of covered gravity in school but not in any great detail.

"That's right. Anyway they wanted a source for the town's water supply and the Kohaku river was a nice, clean river ... something of a rarity nowadays ... and convenient as well. So they dammed it up to make the reservoir and covered it to keep the water clean and fresh. But reservoirs have limited capacity so they have a sort called a spillover. Which should be self-explanatory." She looked at Chihiro who nodded. "Most reservoirs spillover into their old river bed but here they diverted it underground via a long pipe because they wanted the land."

"So the river runs through this pipe to the sea? What doesn't end up coming out of the tap that is?"

"Or leaking into basements apparently." Yuko gave a wry smile. "The river was a major recreational focus of the community. No one who lived here wanted it gone but what we wanted didn't matter. Sympathetic development could have actually been much more profitable but no one listened. All they did was make an experimental semi-natural space for the community and wildlife." Her tone was sarcastic as she gestured pointed to some gates just ahead. "It's so landscaped that calling it even semi-natural is a joke." She added in her normal tone.

"Granny thinks money changed hands to get the permissions they needed." Chihiro looked thoughtfully at the park gates. Could it really be as bad as her mother said?

"I would not be at all surprised if it had." Yuko agreed and headed towards the park gates. "Come on, since you like woods I'll show you what's left of my childhood haunts. It isn't much but it's the only place in there that's anything approaching natural."

Chihiro realised pretty quickly that the park wasn't as bad as her mother had said ... it was much worse. The lay of the land was so sculpted that it was obviously artificial and the turf was just too smooth and perfect... or would have been if the grass weren't faded to brown. The whole place felt off to her. Apart from the fact everything seemed to be dying there was an indefinable aura of wrongness that made her feel nauseous... and something else was odd but she couldn't quite figure out what. She glanced at her mother who was frowning at one of the heavily manicured trees. It was obvious that while she could not sense the strange aura about the place she had noticed the sickliness of the trees and bushes and the brownness of the wide lawns. After a moment she headed closer to the tree and laid a hand on the bark.

"Why on earth are all the trees round here so stressed?" Yuko was obviously talking to herself and between thoughts she was clicking her tongue against her teeth... a sure sign that she was trying to work something out. "Not even a moron could accidentally poison all of them. There's no drought or too much rain... and diseases would only effect some species of plant not all of them. They can't all have compromised roots..." She closed her eyes and scowled thoughtfully. "It could be some sort of pollution. They did flatten the mound while building this place and shoved the soil from it all over the place. Maybe whatever made it barren got spread around."

"What was the mound?" Chihiro asked. She was trying to work out what it was about the place that was bothering her apart from the obvious distress the plants were in and the odd aura... because there was definitely something else. If only she could put her finger on it.

"It was a small hill. Somewhere around there." Yuko pointed vaguely. "It's hard to tell where exactly because they changed the whole profile of the land with their landscaping. It was a weird thing... obviously artificial and the river formed an equally obviously man-made moat round it. One of my delaying tactics was to try to get an archaeological investigation done but they managed to block it. But the oddest thing was that nothing would grow on it... it was just plain packed earth. The animals all avoided it as well. I guess it was toxic or something. Anyway they flattened it because it ruined the look of the place being all barren. The soil was spread around and must have contaminated the rest of the place."

"People are strange." Chihiro noted as they started walking again. Her mother seemed in a hurry now. Chihiro guessed that she wanted to see if the remanents of the woods were intact. As she followed her something she'd said clicked in Chihiro's brain and she realised what was bothering her. "Mom, stop and listen for a moment... what do you hear?"

Her mother paused briefly and cocked her head to listen. "Absolutely nothing." she replied after a moment. "It's kind of eerie."

"Shouldn't we hear birds or insects or something?"

"Definitely." Her mother nodded. "Something drastic must have happened and been covered up. Come on, I want to see how the remains of the woods are." They walked across the grass trying to ignore the oppressive silence and headed towards an obviously artificial hillock. As they rounded it a small wood came into view and life seemed to return almost between one step and the next. The grass gradually shaded from a dead, dull brown to a lush green at the edge of the wood and the trees were vibrant with leaves.

"Caw!" The cry of a crow shattered the lifeless silence so unexpectedly that they both froze for a moment.

"Hmm..." Yuko said once she recovered. "I'm glad these old ones are more resilient." Her tone was obviously relieved. "I guess the animals have just retreated to where the plants are still alive..."

Chihiro wasn't so sure. Something still felt wrong about the whole park to her. As they walked into the trees the feeling faded somewhat but the nauseous never quite abated.

"These woods are pretty." She said because she felt that she needed to say something.

"They are." Her mother agreed. "But so small now. Even when you were little they used to cover this whole area. I used to take you for walks through them... but I guess you wouldn't remember. You were only this big." She held her hand to indicate the height of a roughly three year old child.

Chihiro considered for a moment. "Actually, I do... vaguely." she replied. She was going to say more but a silvery flash in the undergrowth caught her eye and she looked over. Moments later, brazen as you please, a silver pelted vixen trotted out of the undergrowth with a small rabbit in her mouth. She spotted the humans and paused to regard them for a moment but obviously didn't find them to be any threat because she just flicked her tail at them and disappeared into the undergrowth again.

"How beautiful!" Yuko smiled. "I'm glad the foxes are still here." She paused as they both heard a soft click. Moments later a girl of about Chihiro's age appeared from the undergrowth with a camera in one hand. She also paused when she saw them and then bowed politely.

"Hi!" She smiled at them. "I'm Takada Naru. You're Granny Morita's family aren't you? I saw you moving in yesterday."

Chihiro and her mother nodded in return and introduced themselves.

"Why are you taking photos?" Yuko added curiously. "Summer break project or is it just a hobby?"

"A little of both." Naru looked solemn. "Or it started out that way. But last week I was the only ice cream parlours that's still open in town and there were two guys in suits the corner. They were talking quietly but I heard them say that they were planing to buy all the real estate round here now it was so devalued and level the place and start over... including the whole of the old town and park. I'm taking photos to try and prove there's still abundant life worth saving here even if most of the place is dead."

"How awful!" Chihiro gasped before adding quickly. "The development plans I mean. Not you trying to prove there's life here, Naru-san."

"I know." Naru grinned at her. "And just Naru is fine." She glanced at Chihiro's mother who was muttering under breath. "I think that your mother is a bit mad about it as well."

"Mom? Are you okay?" Chihiro was a little concerned by her mother's reaction. She was white and shaking and her hands were clenched into fists.

"Not really." Her mother took a deep breath to calm herself and leant against one of the trees. "I can't believe these people! They already cocked it up once. Can't they leave well enough alone?"

"Apparently not." Naru said. Then, "Ooh, butterflies!" She raised her camera and ran off into the trees in pursuit of the pretty insects.

"Enthusiastic girl." Yuko said. Her tone was slightly calmer but she still looked livid. "We'd better get back. I want to make some calls. If we're lucky she misunderstood what she heard but I have a bad feeling she didn't..."

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After lunch granny went for another nap and Yuko spent the next couple of hours alternating between ringing round the schools in local towns and calling friends with 'connections' who might know or be able to find out if Naru's story was true. She didn't have any success in finding a School for Chihiro but she did learn that someone was trying to buy up all the real estate in the area. A fact that supported Naru's tale. And whatever the friend she had just spoken to in the most recent call had told her had left her massaging her temples and looking even more tired than she had that morning.

"Ack!" She said finally. "I hate talking to him. He makes my head hurt."

"Who?" Chihiro asked. "And if you don't like him why did you call him?"

"Oh, I like him.... he's just... eccentric. But he hears everything that's going on. He had heard the rumours. Now I just have to sort the truth of what he's heard from his quasi-religious paranoid imaginings." She yawned as she made some notes in her note pad. "Oh, hell. I'm starting to feel tired again."

"I did warn you it wasn't just me." Granny had emerged from her room just in time to hear that. "Didn't I say it would happen to you as well if you came to live here. Everyone feels tired to some extent round here."

"You also said," Yuko noted in a tone heavy with irony, "that you thought it was the result of some sort of Spiritual attack! You knew I wouldn't believe that."

"Well whatever's causing it it's a real effect." Granny replied mildly.

"Chihiro seems okay. I'm sure it's just the move."

"We'll see. Why don't you take a nap yourself? I promised I'd take Chihiro to the shrine." She picked up her stick from a rack by the door.

"That's not a bad idea." Yuko said as they left.

Even the short walk to the shrine seemed to tax Granny's depleted reserves and they had to stop on several occasions for her to rest. It was during one of these pauses that Chihiro saw the car again.

"Eh? There it is again." She tried not to stare at the nose of the yellow car that was peeking out of a nearby turning.

"You mean the yellow car?" Granny asked quickly, starting to walk again.

"Yeah, I've seen it several times."

"Hmm. Mrs Takada told me that a man in a yellow car accosted her, Kasumi and Naru yesterday evening. He was asking lots of questions about your parents and when they told him I was Yuko's mother they started asking about me as well. Mrs Takada said she thought he might be a detective of some sort."

"That's weird." Chihiro shook her head. "Why would a detective be following us?" She paused. "And why didn't Naru mention it when we met her earlier?"

"Eh? When did you meet Naru?" Granny looked surprised.

"This morning. In what's left of the woods. She was taking photos for a school project."

"You can't have done. She was doing a project like that but she lost her camera the last time she was there... and that was a week ago. Anyway she's still limping where the poltergeist threw her across the room."

"That was Naru?" Chihiro interrupted.

Granny just nodded. "Anyway she was at the house this morning. She wanted to meet you because with so many people moving out of the region there aren't many kids your age left.

Chihiro was really confused by now and quickly described the girl she and her mother had met and the conversation they'd had.

"That does sound like Naru." Granny conceded. "But it still can't have been and if she'd heard something like that the whole town would know by now."

"So who..."Chihiro raised an eyebrow. "Okay, this is weird even for my life."

"Hmm..." The thoughtful sound was obviously meant as agreement.

"Chihiro mused on the mystery for a moment but found no answers so she changed the subject. "The basement at the school is flooded."

Her Granny looked at her. She'd obviously not expected the subject change. "I'd heard rumours about that."

"We went down to look at it and the river spirit spoke to me."

"Are you sure?" Granny asked. Chihiro nodded. "Hmm... so what did he say?"

"That he isn't responsible for all the trouble."

"That's hopeful... unless he means that he feels justified in what's he's doing and blames us for what he's doing." They were finally approaching the shrine. "Well, here we are."

"I'm sure that's not what he meant." Chihiro looked up at the arch. "I really wish I had some skill with woodwork."

"Just do what you can. I'm sure he'll be grateful help." Granny said. Chihiro wondered absently if she meant the Shrine Priest or the River Spirit. In the end though she guessed it didn't really matter."

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The priest was older than Granny but Chihiro wasn't sure by how much and it would have been rude to ask. There was an air about him that suggested that he must have been more energetic once. Now he just seemed depressed and somewhat lonely... at least until Chihiro made her offer of help.

"Yes! Yes! Please. I need all the help I can get." He looked at her thoughtfully. "But the situation is dire, you know. What we really need is some way to persuade people that the river spirit is still worthy of their respect and worship."

"We'll find a way to do that." Chihiro said with determination and then paused as she felt eyes other than those of the priest and her grandmother watching her. She considered looking round but decided that might be rude and instead just shrugged. "but first we need to sort the mess out. Having a dilapidated shrine will certainly not help with engendering respect. I think I'll start with the litter people are tossing in the to the grounds. Do you have any rubbish bags?"

The priest nodded and told her where to find them. She fetched them and headed out to start work leaving Granny and the priest chatting.

The section of the grounds near the entrance could not have been more thoroughly strewn with garbage if the local people had actually been trying Chihiro decided as she stood with her hands on her hips and view the litter through narrowed eyes. "Oh well." She muttered as she bent to pick up the first can. "I'll start with the cans. Maybe can sell them to a recycling centre."

It was several minutes later as she tied off the second sack of cans and marked them up that she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as the gaze she had felt following her solidified. As she opened a third sack ready to start picking up the bottles she glanced casually in that direction. The boy she'd noticed yesterday was leaning against one of the overgrown trees watching her with a smile. Close to the feeling of deja vu was was even stronger and she recognised the aura from this morning, Face to face with the river spirit she did the only thing she could think of... she bowed. He walked towards her apparently unsurprised that she could see him.

"I'm sorry I startled you earlier." He told her softly. She regarded him for a moment and then carried on picking up the bottles. She didn't need anyone to see her talking to apparently thin air.

"That's okay." She told him as her fingers found a coke bottle and moved it to the bag. She stole another glance at him. "I know you don't I?"

"Yes, you do." His green eyes were astute. "But you don't remember where from do you?"

She closed her eyes and screwed up her forehead in concentration. "Well, I know that you're my friend and that you helped me in the past. I also know you're the river spirit ... though that's sort of interesting. I can't even remember why I know these things. I... I'm sorry." She had to blink back tears because she felt that she'd somehow betrayed him by forgetting. He just smiled at her reassuringly.

"It's not your fault, Chihiro." He obviously wasn't upset about it. "It's a very strong spell. I doubt it will last forever though. Enough Spirits, including me, tried to compromise it at the time. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Zeniba herself or perhaps even Yubaba had weakened it ... and it's their spell."

"Eh?" Chihiro was torn between not knowing what the heck he was talking about and the odd feeling that it made perfect sense so she latched onto the one thing that she definitely understood. "A spell? You mean it's because of magic that I can't remember what happened?"

"You didn't think that it was just some sort of random amnesia did you?" He seemed amused by that thought but then his tone sobered. "I am glad to see you again, Chihiro. I never expected to be able to fulfil my promise so soon. So please don't take this the wrong way but I wish you weren't here." Chihiro looked at him in puzzlement but the obvious worry in his eyes convinced her that he didn't mean anything bad by it. "I'm sure it's not coincidence though. You're here for a reason. I just don't like seeing you in danger."

"What's happening here?" Chihiro asked.

"The developers," He told her after a moment, "Disturbed something that would have been best left sleeping." It seemed that he would elaborate but suddenly he stopped talking and cocked his head as if listening to someone. "Something is happening. I have to go." He gave her a wry look. "I guess you don't recall my name yet, either."

"Well I'd assume you name is that of your river."

"Logical ... and not incorrect. My full name is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. You can call me Haku though. We'll talk later. Thank you for what you're doing." And then he was gone. Chihiro looked at the place where he'd been standing for a minute before turning her attention back to the rubbish.

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Haku in the meantime had returned the bulk of his attention to the school. Not all of it of course because he was always subtly aware of events anywhere his essence was, like the course of his river or places where artifacts imbued with his essence were kept, such is the nature of spirits. However he could only really concentrate on one place at once with any clarity. Which was why he'd been forced to leave his conversation with Chihiro. He'd become aware of a strange force moving within the school grounds while talking to her and while he could sense that it was not the thing that he most feared he knew that he had to investigate it. Which was why he'd hidden himself under strongest concealment spell he knew and taken his human form to investigate. Anything that could attract his attention might well be strong enough to sense his presence too unless he took precautions.

He slipped cautiously around the side of the building and concealed himself just out of the sight of the three figures who were standing by the entrance. They looked like adult humans, two male and one female, but he could sense that they were actually spirits. Not strong ones really but not especially weak either. Individually he could handle them but together they'd be a handful and he didn't want a fight. He just wanted to know who they were. He edged closer trying to hear what they were saying.

"...is it still standing?" The tallest of the two male figures was speaking, well more like snarling, when he got close enough. "I thought I told you to destroy it?"

"You did." The second male was calmer. "But you didn't tell me when. I thought I'd wait until the children came back and then collapse. The blood of innocents spilled on the ground is one of the most important ingredients remember."

"Hmm." The first figure seemed to be considering but the female spirit gave a cynical laugh.

"Teenage humans? Innocent?" The tone dripped with contempt. "You've been ignoring humanity again haven't you. It's nicely ripened in it's own corruption. innocence is rare and usually reviled. Innocent blood will be hard to find."

"However any mass death will strengthen him." The first speaker was musing thoughtfully. "And losing their precious children in such a 'pointless accident' will rip the heart out of the community and make phase two easier. So perhaps we should let this stand for now."

"It's a very good point." The female agreed. She was nervously scanning the area. Almost as if she was paranoid about being caught there. Her eyes passed over Haku but didn't see him. "Yes," she said finally, "I agree."

A small part of Haku's mind was analysing the discussion and not liking the implications at all. Most of it however was fixated on the ID badge attached to the female spirit's smart business suit. He'd noticed it when she looked around but it wasn't the first time he'd seen it. He knew it all to well... it identified her as an employee of the company that had buried the river. Edging round he saw that both of her companions wore similar IDs...

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resposes to reviews:

LadyRainStarDragon: Yep, I'm a review whore. And yep I've been to Shinto and Buddhist Corner. "Old stories of Japan" is good as well even if it is on a geocities site. It's full of actual folktales.

Velf: we actually have no idea where the webbed toes (which I didn't inherit) came from but it was the source of many jokes.

Riah-chan: Read when you can.

Big Book Worm: I must be getting better then. I've always been crap at building suspense. Is it still working in this chapter?

Wyldcat: So do you still think it's Haku?

Taiki: Here you are.

Chris (aka Shatterstorm): I still say you should give the movie a second chance

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Please review, especially if you have constructive advice.


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